"Ní mhaireann solas na maidine don lá." // "No morning sun lasts all day."

Tara had suggested to Theseus that they keep their relationship a secret, especially while at the Ministry. 

Not because she was ashamed or embarrassed, like he had tried so relentlessly to imply through his teasing, but because the number of people inside of the Ministry that she trusted had dwindled significantly over the years. And if no one there knew, then it was less likely that Grindelwald or his followers would figure out, or remember, that Tara still had another thing left to love and defend. 

Theseus had obviously agreed in theory, but in practice found himself fairly poor at the task. 

It turned out to be second nature to him. To want to be around her. To need to be constantly within arms reach. To have his eyes follow her every movement. Tara had to once or twice smack his hand away from the small of her back, where it had absentmindedly appeared during the tediousness of a directors meeting.

But he was trying. And that’s truly all Tara could ask of him.

The years were slowly passing them by, and with little to no progress in the search for and capture of Grindelwald. Every now and again, Auror’s would get a trail, follow it for as long as they physically could, but only rarely did it lead them to a final person, location, or plot. 

Tara continued training the Auror’s, most of whom now regarded her with a heightened sense of respect after hearing stories about, or in some of their cases seeing with their own eyes, what had transpired at the rally in Paris. The un-fading scar on her neck was more than proof that the tales were true, and had earned her quite a few unrelenting stares and questions over the years. None of which she had been too keen on responding to.

Blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face, Tara called one of her nightly training sessions to a close. She stood near the back wall watching, and occasionally waving, as Auror’s began to lazily file out of the room.

As she tucked her wand behind her ear, the one form still lingering behind made its way over to where she stood. 

With a raise of her eyebrow, Tara tilted her head up to look at him.

“Yes, Mr. Scamander?” she asked, keeping her tone fairly official.

Theseus briefly glanced back over his own shoulder, taking note of the small group of Auror’s still loitering just outside of the door, talking avidly amongst themselves.

The Head Auror not-so-subtly sighed in disappointment, then straightened out his shoulders, his hands folding tightly behind his back.

“Might I- inquire why today’s training was so rigorous?”

Tara gnawed at the inside of her cheek.

“I’ve been paying attention to the reports.” she replied. “Hearing whispers-”

“You’ve been spying.” Theseus countered.

Tara glared back up at him pointedly.

“My job is to prepare you for threats. To do that, I need to know what those threats are.” she said through gritted teeth. Glancing back at the doorway, Tara noticed that the number of Auror’s had dwindled down to only two. With a huff of breath, she turned her attention back to Theseus. “I know that you’re going on a recon mission at the end of the week.” she admitted in a whisper.

Theseus tapered a sigh, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

“Right. Well, I suppose we could discuss this further at the next board meeting.”

Tara let out a breath through her nose, looking back down at the floor. “Board meeting” was the code that they had subtly developed to mean “Back at home.”

Theseus’ hand twitched where it hung at his side, and as he opened his mouth to say something further, someone suddenly called out his name from back in the hallway. The Head Auror glanced over his shoulder, nodding to the man that was waving him over. 

When he turned back to Tara, he found that she had already crossed the room to gather her things, only giving him a view of the back of her head. With another sigh, he finally turned and jogged over to the doorway.

Tara waited until she heard their voices disappear down the hallway before leaving herself.

Standing by the window in the front living room, Tara skillfully nursed a small glass of fire whiskey. She had been locked in that same position for nearly an hour by that point, before finally hearing the distant sound of the front door opening. 

“Tara?” the sound of her name echoed semi-softly through the house. And the witch couldn’t stop the shiver that traveled down her spine.

For she had never quite gotten used to the way that he said her name.

It’s not like he hadn’t spoken it before with any sort of reverence. In fact, if you asked him, that’s all he spoke to her with, even before they got together. But as the years continued to pass, she felt like she was noticing it a bit more. It was as if his words were dipped in something as sweet as honey. As the syllables seeped into her ears, her chest would warm the way it would when one downed a steaming cup of hot cocoa. It both calmed her, and made her heart race all at once.

Theseus rounded the corner from the hallway, taking in the sight of her standing at the window. He let out an audible sigh, shedding the top layer of his suit and draping it gently over the couch.

“Something interesting out there?” he asked, walking over to join her.

Tara shrugged her shoulders, taking another swig of her drink.

“The family across the street came back from their trip today. Took them thirty whole minutes to unpack the car.” she noted absentmindedly, pouring out the information just to fill the impending silence.

But after Theseus hummed his acknowledgement, the room went quiet. Far too quiet for her liking. Tara pointedly continued to stare forward, quickly taking another sip.

“Tell me about the mission.” she finally demanded.

Theseus nodded to himself, having prepared for this discussion his entire way home.

“We got a tip about some of his followers holding up in a small house in Germany. We don't have any reason to believe that he will be there, but if we can get our hands on any information, or people, we’re gonna take it.”

Tara winced, subconsciously blaming it on the whiskey traveling down her throat.

“Smart. Good strategy.”

“Tara-”

“Any names we recognize?” she quickly interrupted.

Another quiet breath escaped Theseus’ throat as he watched her swallow more alcohol. 

“None of the inner-circle members have been there as far as we can tell. It almost seems like a group of young adults going at it on their own, which should make information-extraction a bit easier.”

Tara clenched her jaw.

“Or more dangerous.” she countered, bringing the glass to her lips again.

“Okay-” Theseus said, reaching over to snatch the drink clean out of her hand.

Tara whirled on him accusingly. 

“Hey!” she barked, making a grab for it. But due to his height advantage, he easily lifted it out of her reach, shooting a pointed look back down at her.

“Talk to me.” he ordered. “What is it?”

Tara was genuinely piqued by how seemingly easy it was for him to read her. Especially considering just how difficult it was for her to do the same. So for a moment, the two of them simply engaged in a brief staring contest, one that she was now determined to win.

“Who’s leading the mission?” she asked boldly.

Theseus blinked. 

“Me.”

Tara squared her shoulders.

“There. I talked to you.” she said with finality. “Now give me my drink back-” she had made another grab for it, but instead of giving it up, Theseus leaned over and placed it down on the small couch-side table behind him. Simultaneously, and without looking, he had caught her arm mid-swipe, a large hand curling around her wrist.

When he turned back to face her, he was met with an overtly familiar glare.

“Are we really going to have this conversation again?” he asked lowly.

Tara successfully tugged herself out of his grasp.

“No.” she spat, folding her arms over her chest again and turning to stare back out the window.

Theseus sighed again.

“You have nothing to worry about. I promise.”

Tara immediately shook her head.

“Don’t, Theseus.” she scolded. “You know you can’t make promises like that.”

After carefully studying the back of her head for a moment longer, Theseus took a final step forward, closing the distance between them completely. He wrapped his arms tightly around her middle, dipping his forehead down to rest against the back of her skull.

“I know.” he finally responded, whispering directly into her hair. Now in his arms, he could feel her body shake as she let out a breath of her own. “Tell me what I can do.”

Tara scoffed weakly.

“Nothing. Just let me…wallow in my stress.” she replied in a half-hearted mumble.

Theseus, evidently, had not been a fan of that answer.

“Nope.”

“Theseus- hey!”

A surprised yelp escaped her throat as she was suddenly lifted up off of the floor, Theseus’ arms wrapping even tighter around her waist.

“There will be no moping around in my house.” he grunted as he moved to cross the living room.

“Your house?” she quipped back, struggling against his grip to no avail.

Reaching the couch, he all but threw her down onto the cushions below, her back hitting the plush with a small “oof.” Theseus was quick to join her there, his arms bracing his body above her position, a small smirk dancing on her face.

“Mine.”

Tara felt her face flush a hot, red color.

“Slow your roll big, bad, Auror man.” she countered. “You’re the one who suggested this living arrangement in the first place. But if you’re insisting that it’s ‘yours’ then I suppose I’ll just go and get my things…” she joked, making a move to roll off the couch.

Theseus reacted quickly, one of his hands reaching out to grab the side of her waist, dragging her back into the center of the couch cushions.

“No, no, no.” he said. “You stay right here. It took me way too long to get this.”

Tara stifled a laugh, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

“Then…?”

Theseus took in a deep, purposeful breath in through his nose before his eyes eventually found hers again.

“Ours.” he corrected. “Our house.”

Tara grinned victoriously.

“Now was that so hard?”

Theseus attempted to keep up his annoyed expression, but the longer that she stared back up at him with those eyes, and with that wicked smile, the faster his walls crumbled. And soon enough, a wide grin was slowly blooming across his face.

“Minx.” he mumbled, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

Tara sighed contently, slouching further into the embrace of the couch. Theseus was quick to follow suit, locking his arms around her middle, and resting his head just over her shoulder.

The two of them remained like that for a while, wrapped together as the sun slowly fell beyond a horizon line far from their position.

Tara ran her fingers absentmindedly through the curls at the back of Theseus’ head, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes followed the last sliver of orange light, watching as it grew smaller and smaller, before eventually fading away completely. When it was gone, she suppressed the shiver that had tried to travel down the center of her spine. 

As if sensing something, Theseus’ body shifted, his head lifting up from where it had been settled in the crook of her shoulder. His eyes quickly found hers, only centimeters between their faces as Tara’s fingers remained lazily locked in his hair. He took a moment to carefully trace her expression before daring to speak.

“Have you given any more thought to it?” he whispered.

Tara, instantly knowing what he was referring to, pressed her lips into a straight line.

“Theseus…”

“Tara…” he echoed back, his arms tightening around her waist as he continued to wait for a real response.

“I already told you…it’s not a good idea.” she said after a beat. “Not right now. It won’t come without consequence. It’s not an easy thing to hide, Thees. You know the kind of target it would put on your back. ”

“And I already told you that I don’t care.” he countered seriously. “Marry me, Tara.”

Her stomach flipped, as if she had been dropped from some sort of great height. In the exact way that it did the last two times that he had asked her that same question.

She had never been a girl that dreamed about marriage. She had never been a girl that dreamed of a prince running into her life and sweeping her off her feet. That just wasn’t the world that she grew up in, and it certainly wasn’t the way her parents raised her.

But when Theseus Scamander asked her to marry him, it was as if everything she thought she knew about the world was flipped on its head. For every cell in her body screamed at her to say yes.

Despite that however, there always seemed to be a small corner of her brain that managed to cling onto the true gravity of the situation outside the walls they were currently taking refuge within.

So she shook her head, locking her fingers together at the base of his neck.

“No.” she whispered softly.

Theseus opened his mouth to plead his case, but Tara quickly interrupted him by tilting her own head up and kissing him boldly.

The Auror let out a quiet, frustrated groan, but ultimately surrendered to her.

He wouldn’t stop trying, he told himself. He would never stop. Because he was never going to live another moment in this life without her by his side. So if for now that meant that the ring, which he had already bought, would continue to collect dust in his sock drawer…then so be it.

“You’re infuriating. You know that?” he mumbled when they inevitably parted for air.

Tara grinned.

“So you so incessantly remind me.” she replied. “And yet…here you are.”

Theseus hummed, the sound traveling through his entire body.

“Here I am,” he repeated. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

Tara blinked, her expression softening as her fingers curled at the base of his neck.

“Thank you, Theseus.”

“Always.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───